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Inside the relationship of JD Vance and Usha Chilukuri Vance, the newest GOP power couple who met as Yale law students

Inside the relationship of JD Vance and Usha Chilukuri Vance, the newest GOP power couple who met as Yale law students
JD Vance and Usha Chilukuri Vance at an election night event.Drew Angerer/Getty Images
  • Donald Trump chose Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate in the 2024 election.
  • Vance met his wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance, while they were both students at Yale Law School.

When Fox News asked Usha Chilukuri Vance in June how she felt about her husband, JD Vance, being considered as Donald Trump's running mate, she told host Lawrence Jones that she was "not raring to change anything about our lives right now."

But it appears she's come around, standing alongside Vance and Trump on the first day of the Republican National Convention once her husband was officially chosen to join the ticket.

Vance, the junior senator from Ohio and bestselling author of "Hillbilly Elegy," and Chilukuri Vance, a litigator whose résumé includes a Supreme Court clerkship, met as students at Yale Law School and wed in 2014.

Here's a look inside the relationship of the newest GOP power couple who could become the next vice president and second lady.

Born in Ohio and raised by his grandparents in Kentucky, JD Vance joined the Marines and graduated from Ohio State University.

Born in Ohio and raised by his grandparents in Kentucky, JD Vance joined the Marines and graduated from Ohio State University.
JD Vance.      Gaelen Morse/Getty Images

Vance served as a public affairs marine in Iraq, liaising between service members and members of the press. After his military service, he majored in political science and philosophy at Ohio State University.

Usha Chilukuri Vance studied history at Yale and taught American history in Guangzhou as a Yale-China Teaching Fellow.

Usha Chilukuri Vance studied history at Yale and taught American history in Guangzhou as a Yale-China Teaching Fellow.
Usha Chilukuri Vance.      Jeff Dean/AP

Chilukuri Vance grew up in a suburb of San Diego. Her parents are Indian immigrants, The New York Times reported.

Chilukuri Vance told Fox News in June that her parents' Hindu faith was "one of the things that made them such good parents, that make them very good people."

The couple met while they were students at Yale Law School.

The couple met while they were students at Yale Law School.
JD Vance and his wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance.      Gaelen Morse/Reuters

In law school, Chilukuri Vance served as executive development editor of the Yale Law Journal and managing editor of the Yale Journal of Law and Technology, according to a bio on the website of her former employer, Munger, Tolles & Olson, that has since been removed.

She also worked pro bono with the Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic, the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, and the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project.

Chilukuri Vance told NBC News that she and Vance took all of their classes together and were friends before they started dating. When they were assigned to work on a brief together, Chilukuri Vance said she was impressed by his diligence.

"I've never seen anybody so starstruck," their law school professor, Amy Chua, said of Vance in an interview with NBC News. "It was love at first sight."

They wed in 2014 and held both Christian and Hindu ceremonies.

They wed in 2014 and held both Christian and Hindu ceremonies.
JD Vance and Usha Chilukuri Vance at an election night event.      Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019, The American Conservative reported. Chilukuri Vance was raised Hindu.

When asked about their interfaith marriage in a June interview with Fox News, Chilukuri Vance replied: "There are a lot of things that we just agree on, I think, especially when it comes to family life, how to raise our kids. So I think the answer really is that we just talk a lot."

In 2016, Vance published his best-selling memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," in which he wrote about his relationship with Chilukuri Vance.

In 2016, Vance published his best-selling memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," in which he wrote about his relationship with Chilukuri Vance.
JD Vance's memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," came out in 2016.      Jeff Swensen

Vance's memoir details his working-class upbringing and the lives of poor, white Americans. He also wrote about how Chua, his professor, encouraged him to focus on his relationship with Chilukuri Vance as a Yale law student.

When Vance asked Chua to recommend him for a federal clerkship, she warned him that it's "the type of thing that destroys relationships."

"Amy's advice stopped me from making a life-altering decision. It prevented me from moving a thousand miles away from the person I eventually married," Vance wrote.

"Most important, it allowed me to accept my place at this unfamiliar institution — it was okay to chart my own path and okay to put a girl above some shortsighted ambition," he continued. "My professor gave me permission to be me."

After law school, Vance worked at VC firms while Chilukuri Vance landed prestigious clerkships.

After law school, Vance worked at VC firms while Chilukuri Vance landed prestigious clerkships.
JD Vance with Apple CEO Tim Cook.      Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Vance worked at Mithril Capital, a VC firm backed by Peter Thiel, in 2016. One former coworker previously told Business Insider that Vance was often away from the job promoting his book, "Hillbilly Elegy."

Thiel ended up being instrumental in Vance's rise to power in politics, donating $15 million to his Senate campaign and encouraging Trump to choose Vance as his running mate, The New York Times reported.

Vance went on to work at Revolution, a VC firm in Washington, DC, before founding his own firm, Narya Capital, in 2019.

Meanwhile, Chilukuri Vance worked as a litigator at Munger, Tolles & Olson before leaving to clerk for Judge Brett Kavanaugh in the US Court of Appeals and Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts. Following her clerkships, she returned to Munger, Tolles & Olson, according to a bio on the firm's website that has since been removed.

They have three children.

They have three children.
JD Vance with his son, Vivek.      Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Their first child, 6-year-old Ewan, was born a month before Chilukuri Vance began her clerkship with Chief Justice Roberts, NBC News reported. Their son Vivek is 4, and their daughter Mirabel is 2.

Chilukuri Vance appeared in a political ad and at campaign events when Vance ran for Congress in 2022.

Chilukuri Vance appeared in a political ad and at campaign events when Vance ran for Congress in 2022.
JD Vance and Usha Chilukuri Vance at an election night watch party.      Andrew Spear/Getty Images

In the ad, Chilukuri Vance described her husband as "an incredible father" and "my best friend."

In an interview with Newsmax about the ad, Chilukuri Vance also responded to media reports about Vance's dramatic transformation from a "Never Trumper" to a staunch Trump supporter.

"Sometimes people say that he's changed a lot, but the truth is I've known him now for so many years and he's always been so true to himself," she said.

As Trump vetted Vance for the vice presidency, Chilukuri Vance expressed ambivalence about the possibility of him being chosen.

As Trump vetted Vance for the vice presidency, Chilukuri Vance expressed ambivalence about the possibility of him being chosen.
Donald Trump and JD Vance.      Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

"I'm not raring to change anything about our lives right now, but I really believe in JD and I love him, so we'll see what happens with our lives," she told Fox News.

When Trump chose Vance as his 2024 running mate in July, Chilukuri Vance quit her job as a litigator.

When Trump chose Vance as his 2024 running mate in July, Chilukuri Vance quit her job as a litigator.
JD Vance and Usha Chilukuri Vance arrive at the Republican National Convention.      Joe Raedle/Getty Images

On the first day of the Republican National Convention, when Trump announced Vance as his vice presidential pick, a spokesperson for Munger, Tolles & Olsen told ABC News that Chilukuri Vance had left the firm.

"Usha has been an excellent lawyer and colleague, and we thank her for her years of work and wish her the best in her future career," the spokesperson said.


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